PEOPLE’S ROUNDTABLE convenor David Abdulah led a delegation to deliver copies of a report to several government ministers on September 12, calling for funding to address a list of social and economic concerns of the group.
The report was titled A Nation in Crisis: When Things Fall Apart the Centre Can’t Hold – Crime and Violence.
He held a briefing outside the Eric Williams Financial Complex before delivering reports to staff to forward to Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Planning Minister Pennelope Beckles-Robinson.
He also promised to deliver copies to other ministers including Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds.
Abdulah said he hoped the Government would make allocations in specific line items in the upcoming national budget so as to fund the remediation of the report’s concerns especially crime and violence.
He was joined by Artists Coalition head Rubadiri Victor, Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) general secretary Ozzie Warwick and Network of Women’s NGOs head Carol Noel.
Abdulah said the report was compiled from discussions held at talks hosted by the group in January which 100 people attended, many representing NGOs and some coming as individuals. Abdulah himself is head of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ).
The report addressed themes of education, economy, business, communities, creative arts, gender based violence, crime-fighting initiatives, the criminal justice system and white-collar crime/corruption.
The People’s Roundtable convenor and MSJ political leader David Abdulah shows the media a copy of the People’s Roundtable’s report at a briefing outside the Eric Williams Financial Complex on September 12. To his left is Artists Coalition head Rubadiri Victor and to his right is JTUM general secretary Ozzie Warwick. – Photo by Gabriel Williams
Abdulah lamented the recent spate of multiple killings in Trinidad and Tobago as “crazy, sad, tragic, horrendous.”
He noted a recent report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had said many state measures against violent crime have boomeranged.
Warwick alleged businesses were profit-focused but created tough social conditions for their employees.
Victor hoped more use could be made of community centres, suggested schools be kept open for later times and advocated a mandatory 50 per cent air time for local music to be played on radio stations.
The report, which Abdulah made available to reporters, lamented, “Crime is robbing so many of our people, and especially our youth, of their lives; of citizens of their peace of mind and body; and business-people, farmers and the self-employed of success.”
It quoted the UNODC report’s concerns of criminal groups being either localised or transnational, with alienated youths being drawn in by street gangs.
MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah and Artists Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago representative Rubadiri Victor have said the People’s Roundtable will be making recommendations to several key decision-makers and entities for measures to reduce crime to be included in the upcoming 2024/2025 budget.
They said these recommendations are contained in the report of the group’s civil-society crime summit, held at Cipriani Labour College, Valsayn on January 31.
Among the people and entities that will receive copies of the report this week will be the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Colm Imbert, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Chief Justice Ivor Archie, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Erla Harewood-Christopher, the Police Service Commission and the Financial Intelligence Unit.
Abdulah (the Roundtable’s convenor) and Victor (a member of the Roundtable) made these statements during a virtual meeting hosted by the MSJ on September 10.
The People’s Roundtable comprises the MSJ and a number of civil-society groups.
At a news conference at the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union’s headquarters in San Fernando, Abdulah described the January 31 summit as a success, as participants discussed gender-based violence, the education system, communities, white-collar crime, business and the economy, among other issues.
On September 10, he said the report arising from the summit has several recommendations which could be used to reduce crime and these should be included in the budget.
Victor added that copies of the report will be delivered to the offices of key officials and entities with this objective in mind.
He said it was not enough for the police to use a “boots on the ground” strategy to deal with crime.
Victor suggested Harewood-Christopher look at hiring data and intelligence analysts to work in the police service. He said having such personnel in agencies like the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) was not enough.
Victor also said Harewood-Christopher should look at strengthening community policing.
On the Judiciary, Victor called on Archie to ensure there are transparent guidelines on bail applications for violent crimes, gun-related crimes and repeat offenders.
He said he heard a story about someone who was charged 43 times with respect to violent crimes being able to access bail.
“That is madness.”
Victor urged Imbert and Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles-Robinson to consider funding for more community-based development projects in the budget, to stimulate economic activity in areas such as East Port of Spain and Fyzabad.
He suggested funding be including in the budget to ensure all community centres are fully operational. Victor said both these initiatives could create opportunities for people to engage in meaningful activities instead of becoming involved in crime.
Abdulah called for the budget to have a provision to incentivise tertiary-education students to become school social workers or guidance counsellors.
He said this would allow them to help troubled students to be able to pursue their education and not be recruited by criminals for nefarious activities.
To cut down on vehicular theft and related crimes, Abdulah said Imbert should explore the establishment of a central authority to make licence plates with computer chips embedded in them, to identify vehicle owners and track down stolen vehicles.
He also suggested firm timelines be set for the full operationalisation of scanners at sea ports to curb the flow of contraband into Trinidad and Tobago.
To curb potential corruption in electoral politics, Victor called for the implementation of campaign-finance legislation.
He estimated that it could cost a political party approximately $300-$500 million to stage an election campaign.
Victor said there must be legislation to ensure no questionable financial activity happens in any election and political parties must be able to account for their sources of funding at all times.
At a post-Cabinet media briefing on August 28 at the Office of the Prime Minister at Whitehall, St Clair, Dr Rowley said one of government’s objectives in the new parliamentary term will be the passage of campaign-finance legislation.
The new term opens on September 13 at the Red House.
POLITICAL analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says since 2016, the Council for Responsible Political Behaviour has operated with a total budget of $75,000.
Despite this, Ragoonath told journalists at a workshop on August 8 that the council had enough money to continue minimal operation until the end of 2025.
Ragoonath, who heads the council, was speaking during the Enhancing Ethical and Effective Coverage workshop, hosted by the Media Institute of the Caribbean, the British High Commission Port of Spain and the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The code was first drafted and developed by by RC Archbishop Joseph Harris, designed to have political parties observe civilised, integrity-filled conduct during their campaigning.
It was later endorsed by five political parties, namely the Congress of the People, the People’s National Movement, the Independent Liberal Party, the United National Congress and the Movement for Social Justice.
Fifty thousand dollars was donated by the Archdiocese of Port of Spain and $25,000 was given to by late leader of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Sat Maharaj.
Ragoonath said the seed money was used primarily for the payment of web hosting, annual registration and other limited expenses such as travel and reimbursement to the recording secretary.
He said in 2020, the council held two workshops for secondary school students and would like to have workshops in Tobago, but said the council simply had no money to do so.
He said the remaining funds would only be able to cover registration, website and e-mail accounts until 2025. Stressing the urgency of funds to keep the council afloat, he called on traditional media to publish the code and its media releases when sent.
“There seems to be a general lack of awareness of the code. Bear in mind, we are in moral suasion, and if that falls, we go to name and shame. Media houses have a role in getting the message out.”
Ragoonath stressed the need for public education on the role and functions of the council and called for help with technical support, saying the council members were not tech-savvy.
The council’s code aims to improve integrity in political campaigning by addressing issues such as misuse of state resources and unaccounted election spending.
He said while the code was a positive step, it was not legally binding and lacked measures on campaign finance reform. There have been calls for the code to be made law, with penalties for violations.
Elections and Boundaries CEO Fern Narcis-Scope, who also attended the workshop, urged Ragoonath to continue advocating for the council’s code to be enshrined in legislation.
She said in the context of modern and enhanced democracy, adopting a code of ethics in politics is crucial, and the council’s work is a valuable initiative.
“Your organisation should continue to advocate for and articulate the need for this to become legislation. Moral suasion is not enough, legislation is the way to go.”
OZZIE Warwick, general secretary of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM), was joined by his comrades from the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) and Trinidad and Tobago Friends of Cuba (TTFC) as they tried to deliver a statement to the US Embassy addressed to US President Joe Biden on June 28, asking the US to “remove their feet” from Cuba.
Warwick, reading from the statement, said, “We, the undersigned organisations, once again raise our collective voices to denounce the continued attack by the US government against the people of our sister Caribbean nation, Cuba.
“Virtually every nation has taken a position that the commercial, financial and economic blockade of Cuba by the US must be ended.”
He said the vote at the at the last UN General Assembly on the resolution tabled annually by Cuba calling for the ending of the blockade was “overwhelming.
“Last November, when the resolution once again came before the General Assembly, 187 out of the 193 member states of the UN voted for the US to end the blockade.
“Not surprisingly, the US and Israel voted for it to be continued.”
Warwick said when he tried to deliver the letter to the embassy, he was asked for identification, which staff at the embassy took, then told him they would need to contact their superiors to see if they could accept the letter.
Twenty minutes later, there was still no update.
Warwick said, “We find the wait disrespectful to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
“We feel offended…it is in this simple brown envelope, I don’t know what they feel is in here.”
Moments after he made this statement, police from the St Clair station showed up and asked why people were gathered opposite the embassy.
One officer said the embassy’s policy, according to his knowledge, was to not receive any documents by hand.
JTUM said, “We would mail it in.”
Included in the letter was a call for the US to “remove Cuba from the so-called list of countries that are engaged in state sponsorship of terrorism. It is a total fabrication for Cuba to be on that list and to reverse all the Trump-era executive orders that have worsened the blockade against Cuba and return to the Obama-era status quo of which you were a part as vice president.”
IN OUTLINING their brand-new approach towards the PNM Government on Labour Day, trade unionists turned to a very old proverb: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
“Who,” asked Public Services Association (PSA) president Leroy Baptiste, “is the enemy of my enemy?”
“The UNC!” cried people in the crowd gathered at Charlie King Junction, Fyzabad.
“We have to get rid of the PNM next year,” Mr Baptiste replied.
Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget added, “Take everything they giving you – but vote their backside out!”
As a statement of policy, the approach thus articulated is one shorn of any ideological framework, value or belief. It is little more than naked ambition, naked political expediency.
It is a remarkably shallow basis upon which to anchor an entire movement.
And yet, it is, it seems, the best modern labour can do.
We do not feel it is an approach in the best interest of anyone, whether workers, citizens or trade unionists themselves.
Far more productive is the non-aligned stance adopted by the TT Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) under the leadership of Martin Lum Kin.
When labour leaders flip-flop depending on which way they feel the wind is blowing, it undermines their credibility.
When such officials go on to make endorsements or sign accords or join tripartite mechanisms, the population simply thinks of another old saying: “All skin teeth…”
This damages these leaders’ ability to get workers what they need.
By extension, it doubly antagonises a general population that often bears the brunt of strike action. Turning strong objections to the policies and programmes of a sitting government into a political matter simply returns trade unionists to a gayelle in which they have recently been ineffective.
Unionists flirting with governance is nothing new. Up until 2020, Jennifer Baptiste-Primus was a member of government. Errol Mc Leod and David Abdulah were a part of the People’s Partnership.
In labour’s heyday decades ago, figures like Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler and Adrian Cola Rienzi inspired energised mobilisation among the electorate.
Today, union-based parties like the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) muster a few hundred votes at elections.
The idea of a trade-union leader telling the membership who to vote for is one at odds with our now well-developed and deeply entrenched sense of personal freedoms within a democracy.
Mr Lum Kin’s apolitical stance, in this changed world, makes far more practical sense and is even a model that should be adopted by NGOs more generally.
Pressure groups need not espouse any special affiliation. Their outsider status empowers them to lobby for change no matter who is in power, and to do so with their credibility and even popularity intact.
PROGRESSIVE Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader Watson Duke has said his political priority at this time is on Tobago.
But Duke, a former Public Services Association (PSA) president, added that he is not opposed to the idea of supporting his former labour colleagues in any initiative that could benefit the working class.
This was his response on June 20 to a call by Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) president Ancel Roget for the creation of a national-front alliance against the PNM in next year’s general election.
Roget made this call when he addressed a Labour Day rally at Charlie King Junction on June 19.
“In the coming weeks, with the exception of TTUTA (Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association) and any other paid political trade unions, with the exception of them, we in the trade union movement have agreed to meet all opposing forces and all political parties, including the UNC.”
At May Day celebrations in San Fernando, TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin said while the union has several issues it is addressing with the Education Ministry on behalf of teachers, it has never aligned itself with any political party
In a WhatsApp comment to Newsday, Duke said, ” I am not opposed to supporting my colleagues in labour in any way that can benefit the working class of Trinidad and Tobago.”
But he added, “Currently my focus is to continue representing Tobago and its people.”
Relations between trade unions and political parties have not always been amicable over the years.
In 2010, Roget and other labour leaders campaigned actively through the MSJ against the PNM.
The MSJ became one of five parties which formed the People’s Partnership (PP) coalition, which defeated the PNM in the May 24, 2010 general election. The others were the UNC, the Congress of the People, the Tobago Organisation of the People and the National Joint Action Committee.
Relations between the PP and the labour movement soured in 2011 when the PSA agreed to a proposal for a five per cent wage cap on workers’ salaries from the PP. Roget was among the first labour leaders to condemn the PSA and PP for this. The feud between the PSA and JTUM on this issue caused a major split in the labour movement.
Duke was PSA president at that time.
On June 19, his PSA successor Leroy Baptiste suggested to trade union members at Charlie King Junction that the PSA and the labour movement enter into negotiations with the UNC to remove the PNM from office.
UNC deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal and other high profile members – Opposition Senator Wade Mark and UNC MPs Dr Lackram Bodoe, David Lee and Rudranath Indarsingh – attended Labour Day celebrations in Fyzabad.
Moonilal wore a blue OWTU shirt and participated in the trade unions’ march from Avocat Junction to Charlie King Junction.
A statement from the UNC on June 19 said the party underscored its commitment to workers through Moonilal’s participation in the march.
“Such initiatives strengthen the bonds between policymakers and the grassroots, fostering a more inclusive dialogue on labour rights and fair treatment.”
JOINT Trade Union Movement (JTUM) president Ancel Roget says the majority of the labour movement will be meeting in the coming weeks with political parties opposed to the PNM, including the Opposition UNC.
The objective of these meetings is the creation of a united front against the PNM, not a political party, to remove it from government in next year’s general election.
Roget, who is also the Oilfields Workers Trade Union (OWTU) president general, made this announcement when he addressed a Labour Day rally at Charlie King Junction, Fyzabad on June 19.
Earlier in the day, celebrations began with the wreath-laying ceremony at Apex Cemetery at the grave of the labour movement’s founder, Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler, at 8 am.
In keeping with tradition, trade-union leaders and union members then assembled at Avocat Junction and marched towards Charlie King Junction for the rally and subsequent celebrations.
Among those joining the march was UNC deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal, who wore an OWTU shirt.
A statement issued by the UNC on June 19 said the party underscored its commitment to workers through Moonilal’s participation in the march.
Moonilal was re-elected deputy leader in the party’s internal elections on June 15.
The UNC said, “Such initiatives strengthen the bonds between policymakers and the grassroots, fostering a more inclusive dialogue on labour rights and fair treatment.”
Also present for the early part of festivities were Opposition Senator Wade Mark and UNC MPs Dr Lackram Bodoe, Rudranath Indarsingh and David Lee.
Moonilal was also seen at the subsequent rally.
Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah also participated in the march.
While different trade unions may have differences, Roget said it was important that all members of the labour movement unite against the common enemy: the PNM.
Then Roget made his big announcement.
“In the coming weeks, with the exception of TTUTA (Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association) and any other paid political trade unions, with the exception of them, we in the trade union movement have agreed to meet all opposing forces and all political parties, including the UNC.”
At May Day celebrations in San Fernando, TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin said while the union has several issues it is addressing with the Education Ministry on behalf of teachers, it has never aligned itself with any political party.
Roget said the purpose of these meetings is not to form a new political party.
“We have a political party, the MSJ, and we will also be meeting with the MSJ.
“The purpose of those meetings is to build a national front alliance to remove the PNM from office come next general election.”
He repeated that because the PNM poses an immediate danger to Trinidad and Tobago’s well-being, “All of us must come together as one to remove the PNM.”
“It is the only way. When the dust settles, there must be no PNM on the landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. Now is the time to fire Rowley and the PNM government from Trinidad and Tobago.”
Relations between trade unions and political parties have not always been amicable over the years.
In 2010, Roget and other labour leaders campaigned actively through the MSJ against the PNM.
The MSJ became one of five political parties which formed the People’s Partnership (PP) coalition, which defeated the PNM in the May 24, 2010 general election.
The other parties were the UNC, the Congress of the People (COP), the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) and the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC).
Relations between the PP and the labour movement soured in 2011 when the Public Services Association (PSA) agreed to a proposal for a five per cent wage cap on workers’ salaries from the PP. Roget was among the first to condemn the PSA and PP for this.
The feud between the PSA and JTUM on this issue caused a major split in the labour movement.
Then-PSA president Watson Duke is the political leader of the Tobago-based Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP).
Oilfield Workers Trade Union president general Ancel Roget addresses workers at Charlie King Junction, Fyzabad during the annual Labour Day celebrations on June 19. – Photo by Venessa Mohammed
In June 2012, the MSJ announced its departure from the PP after complaining that its former coalition partners were not addressing concerns about corruption within the government. Abdulah was a government senator at that time.
Also in 2012, JTUM met with the then-opposition PNM to discuss their shared concerns about the Section 34 scandal under the PP and the response of then-prime minister (now Opposition Leader) Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
This scandal involved the passage of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice Act, which gave individuals whose matters have remained without trial for ten years or more the right to have them dismissed by a judge.
The PNM claimed this would allow several high-profile UNC members with matters before the courts to have them dismissed.
At that time, Roget said the meeting did not signal the formation of a political coalition between JTUM and the PNM.
The section was subsequently repealed after public protests by several groups, including the PNM and trade unions.
In 2014, Roget used a female mannequin in a yellow dress to depict Persad-Bissessar when the OWTU staged protests against the PP.
Before the September 7, 2015, general election, some trade unions partnered with the PNM against the PP in the hope that an incoming PNM government would help the labour movement. The PNM defeated the PP 23-18 in that election.
During last August’s local government elections, some members of the OWTU openly campaigned with the UNC in certain electoral districts in San Fernando.
At that time, Roget said the union had no alliance with the UNC.
While repeating that the OWTU had an alliance with the MSJ, Roget did not condemn the actions of union members who chose to assist in the UNC’s local government campaign.
On Wednesday, in response to Roget’s statements, trade union members shouted, “Rowley must go!” and “PNM must go!”
Whenever the election is called, Roget told the crowd, “We must unite and be ready for them.”
Before Roget spoke, PSA president Leroy Baptiste suggested the PSA and the rest of the labour movement open negotiations with the UNC with the objective of forming a partnership to remove the PNM from office.
“Who is the the enemy of my enemy?” Baptiste asked PSA members standing in front of the stage.
“UNC!” they replied.
Baptiste said, “There is no one else to help us move the PNM.”
He warned that should the PNM be re-elected next year, it would be the end of the labour movement.
“We have to get rid of the PNM next year.”
Baptiste claimed the only time workers ever benefited was under a past UNC government when they received a wage increase of 40 per cent.
He claimed the government does not want to engage in discussions with the PSA or any other trade union on matters which concern the interests of the workers they represent.
“We have no choice as the labour movement. You have to make a decision who you are going to negotiate with to improve the lives of your children and your grandchildren.”
When Roget subsequently addressed the crowd, he noted that some people were surprised Baptiste had suggested that the labour movement consider an alliance with the UNC against the PNM.
He thanked Baptiste for being brave enough to make such a statement.
“Reality medicine is bitter medicine.”
Roget said after nine years in office, the PNM’s achievements include a stalled economy, high food prices and crime and murders completely out of control.
He claimed the government has been following International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions to close state companies and remove state subsidies with respect to the economy.
Roget described the relationship of the PNM with the population over the last nine years as an abusive one.
“Licks night and day.”
But he said because an election is imminent, the PNM will soon shower citizens with gifts to persuade them to re-elect it in 2025.
“Take everything they giving you – but vote their backside out!”
Roget also claimed the PNM will use race to divide the population to help it win next year’s election.
“We must reject that nonsense out of hand.”
Roget said the PNM’s re-election in 2025 will mean more retrenchment, more removal of subsidies and more crime. He claimed the PNM is being supported by the rich and elite to take Trinidad and Tobago to a place of no return.
Roget said it was for this reason that citizens have a “profound responsibility to stop this madness and chaos from taking place.”
He added that the labour movement is the only movement, from the 1930s to now, that has always stood in the defence of people.
Later during the rally, Roget donned a white hat with the word “truth” and a white jacket to perform a song about truth and justice for the people.
In one verse, he sang, “Everybody talking about crime, but who are the criminals?”
During Roget’s performance, OWTU members brought out billboards of former prime minister Patrick Manning and calypsonian Leroy “Black Stalin” Calliste (both deceased) and a black oil drum with the words “Stalin Bun Dem” on it.
Posters of the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Energy Minister Stuart Young with the words “arrogant,” “incompetent,” and “clueless” respectively were displayed by union members to the crowd.
The posters were put in the oil drum and set on fire.
MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdulah lamented three quarters (75 per cent) of workers in Trinidad and Tobago do not belong to a trade union, speaking to reporters on June 5 at a briefing in Woodford Square, Port of Spain.
He was joined by Oifield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) officials Sati Gajadhar-Inniss (first vice president) and Ozzie Warwick (general secretary) to launch a campaign to encourage people to join trade unions in protection of their rights, in the lead-up to Labour Day on June 19.
The trio later distributed leaflets to people on Frederick Street explaining their rights to a minimum wage, national insurance, maternity protection, occupational health and safety and retrenchment and severance benefits.
Abdulah gave reporters figures which indicated trade union membership has plummeted over the years from about 65 per cent to 25 per cent of the workforce.
“When I joined the trade union movement, way back in 1977, it was 65-70 per cent of the labour force was unionised. That has flipped in the last 40-odd years
“It is not peculiar to TT. This is a global thing, as a result of neoliberal, capitalist economic policies, designed to weaken the trade union movement and weaken workers’ power, to enable capital to accumulate more and more wealth for the one per cent.”
Abdulah said a recent study showed an average US worker would take 200 years to earn their CEO’s yearly salary. He said CEOs in some state companies in TT earn $80,000 or $90,000 per month, plus perks such as car and housing. He calculated that someone on the minimum wage in TT would take two years to earn what a CEO earns in a month.
“That is the level of inequity in society.
“The drive to get rid of unions has resulted in more inequality. Those societies that have high rates of unionisation tend to have less income inequality.”
He blamed the current state of affairs on structural readjustment since the 1980s, even as he recalled DEWD – forerunner of URP – had been unionised (represented by NUGFW). Abdulah said grass-cutting in public spaces used to be done by unionised workers in municipal corporations but nowadays is done by non-unionised workers in private companies contracted by CEPEP.
Abdulah said the decline in union membership was also worsened by major retrenchments, namely the defunct Petrotrin and Arcelor-Mittal, plus TSTT, and energy-sector service companies are no longer unionised.
“The setting-up of special-purpose companies like the Educational Facilities Company Ltd, all of those have resulted in a shift.
“Then the multiplicity now of service employment – which essentially is low-skilled, relatively low-paid work – are the sectors that have been growing: security, fast foods, casinos, malls. All of those have expanded in the last 25-30 years.”
Abdulah said previously workers had good, decent jobs at manufacturing companies like Unilever, which had since shut.
“There has been a shift in the structure of the labour force, which is not good.”
He said entities like malls generate employment but do not create goods that earn foreign exchange and sustain good jobs.
“That is why we have to diversify and transform the economy, and by doing so transform the structure of the labour market.”
Abdulah said the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) was very punitive, and it took many years for a union to be recognised as representing a group of workers.
He said if you wanted to unionised workers at a fast food franchise, you had to visit all the company’s outlets and persuade 51 per cent of the workers to join and pay union dues together for at least eight consecutive weeks.
“So if some join this week, some join next week and some join 20 weeks from now, you don’t have 51 per cent unless those who join now are also paying 20 weeks from now.
“And during that period, if the employer gets wind of it, and sends home for whatever reason – victimisation or whatever – some of the workers, you lose your 51 per cent by the time you go to the recognition board.
“So the law makes it extremely difficult and it (IRA) is an anti-worker piece of legislation.”
He said a local law professor once said TT has the Caribbean’s most repressive labour laws. Despite that, he said, workers must be educated on those rights they do have under the law, as the MSJ now sought to do.
“It is only an MSJ government that would amend the labour legislation in a way to properly allow the right of a worker to join a union of their choice which is an ILO convention that is being breached in TT.”
Newsday asked if the MSJ had confidence in the Industrial Court, whose president (Deborah Felix-Thomas) was recently replaced.
He replied, “Our policy position, which we re-stated to the advisory committee on constitutional reform, is that Industrial Court judges ought to be appointed in a similar way to judges of the High Court.”
As a court of superior record, the Industrial Court’s members should be appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, not by a convoluted process involving Cabinet and the President, Abdulah argued.
Asked about victimisation, he said someone can directly approach a union of their choice and directly pay their dues over the counter, so their employer need not know.
“Workers should join.”
Asked about union-busting, he replied this had occurred at Petrotrin. He said while the State had shut the refinery, it had also unnecessarily sent home workers from the exploration and production unit, which role was to be retained.
He also named Tidco, while Gajadhar added, “TSTT, with the creation of bMobile.”
She said, “A lot of times they create sub-companies that actually deteriorate the original company, and they change the terms and working conditions of the employees that are coming into that company.”
The MSJ is continuing its anti-T&TEC-rate-hike campaign by taking its message to the streets.
At around 10.30 am, on April 17, five members of the MSJ along with their leader David Abdulah gathered at the T&TEC office on Park and Frederick Street in Port of Spain to collect signatures for their petition against the company’s proposed rate hike.
Last year, the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) proposed a T&TEC rate increase of between 15 and 64 per cent for residential customers, 37-51 per cent for small businesses (B1) and ten-12 per cent for larger businesses (B2), paying commercial rates. It also proposed an increase of between 58 and 72 per cent for class D industrial customers, and 119-126 per cent for class E industrial customers.
In February, the MSJ promised to take its online Don’t Leave Us in the Dark campaign to the streets.
On April 17, the MSJ reiterated its argument that the government should explore other avenues.
Abdulah said, “We are not just opposing the rate increase, we are saying there is an alternative for the rate increase and that alternative is for the government to reintegrate power generation into T&TEC.”
He said power generators Powergen and the Trinidad Generation Unlimited should be made part of T&TEC. He believes that arrangement could save $250 million a year and eliminate the need to raise customer rates.
“Under the power-purchase agreement with the power producers, T&TEC must pay for a guaranteed amount of power every day. For example, if T&TEC is paying for 1,000 megawatts a day but the demand is 800 megawatts a day, T&TEC is paying for 200 megawatts which it can’t sell.”
Abdulah also expressed the MSJ’s displeasure with the RIC’s final determination that it could increase rates without coming back to the public.
“As a result of that, in three years’ time, that is within the five-year period of this rate review, rates could go up again. And that would be tremendously onerous on people.”
Newsday spoke to several people who stopped to sign the petition.
Jai Sooklall said, “Right now in this economy, wages are low and life expenses are high. We do not need a raise of anything. We need an increase in pay.”
A woman said, “As someone who is a part of the diminishing middle class, it is becoming incredibly difficult to maintain a normal standard of living and access to basic amenities.
“An increase in light bill will affect that drastically, especially because I have children in school. My children use a lot of electricity at night to do homework and study so it impacts me directly.”
She added low-income earners would also be negatively affected because a light-bill increase might lead to a general increase in prices.
Errol John, however, said he would not be signing the petition.
He said, “I think this increase is something that is due. You have to pay for what you are getting and I think T&TEC provides good service.”
Abdulah said the MSJ intends to take this campaign around the country where it hopes to meet people at different T&TEC offices and on the streets to add their signatures to the petition. Currently, the online petition at change.org has 250 signatures, with the next goal being 500.
SECRETARY of the Health, Wellness and Social Protection Dr Faith BYisrael will be one of the lead health professionals co-chairing a brainstorming session at a climate heat and health workshop, from April 16-18 in Kingston, Jamaica.
BYisrael will also be among her peers as a panellist exploring stakeholders’ perspectives on excessive heat and impacts on health.
According to a media release from her division, the climate heat and health workshop is organised by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA), National Weather Service (NWS) and the Meteorological Service of Jamaica (MSJ), as part of the US President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE). The plan focuses on enhancing capacity for climate adaptation and resilience, primarily assisting countries to adapt and manage the impacts of climate change by 2030. It also supports the United Nations Early Warning for All initiative.
The workshop brings together climate and health stakeholders from across the Caribbean to assess current capacity and challenges for heat-health early warning systems; develop a framework for a heat-health early warning system; and identify next steps for advancing these systems.
Participants include professionals from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs); the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH); Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA); Health Districts; Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); World Meteorological Organization RA-IV Regional Office; and non-governmental organisations such as the Red Cross, local authorities and community organisations.
Following the workshop, NOAA will work with core climate and health partners in Trinidad and Tobago to develop and use heat wave forecasting tools and integrate them with health vulnerability data, ultimately helping to co-develop the health risks and to issue warnings and alerts when necessary.
SAYING the struggles of the Spiritual Baptists in gaining freedom to worship is central to the history of Trinidad and Tobago, the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) is suggesting this becomes part of the school curriculum.
“This history must be taught in our schools. To do otherwise is to capitulate to the colonial strategy of destroying our real identity,” political leader of the MSJ David Abdulah said in a statement in recognition of the Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day holiday on March 30.
“The struggle to reform our education system and of the curriculum is one that is yet to be won, but is one that is absolutely necessary if we are to truly ‘emancipate ourselves from mental slavery.’”
Thinking the observance may be overshadowed as it is wedged between Good Friday and Easter Monday, Abdulah warned against the commemoration being viewed as “just another public holiday…
“To downplay the significance of Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day is to devalue, firstly the heroic struggle for freedom which members of the Spiritual Baptist faith waged, and secondly, their contributions to the building of TT.”
Chronicling the movement’s history, Abdulah noted, “The British colonial power and the economic and political elites in Britain and in the colonies sought to repress and suppress any effort by the enslaved Africans to retain their identity.
“This strategy was continued after Emancipation in 1838. The banning of the drums and other ‘noisy instruments,’ the attack on the Canboulay celebrations of the former enslaved were manifestations of the strategy to deny Africans their identity.
“The Prohibition Ordinances banning the Spiritual Baptist faith from being practised must be understood in this context, beginning in St Vincent in 1912 and TT in 1917 and lastly in Grenada in 1927.”
He pointed out that the publication last week of historian Dr Claudius Fergus’s Against Toleration: Britain’s Persecution of the Spiritual Baptists had revealed the colonial state violated its own laws and constitution by prohibiting the Spiritual Baptist faith, as the British Parliament had, in the mid 1850s, passed legislation for religious tolerance.
In the southern Caribbean, the British state, in full knowledge that what it was doing was ultra vires its own laws and constitution, prohibited the Spiritual Baptists from practising their religion, in furtherance of the strategy of destroying African identity.
Abdulah argued that the struggle to end prohibition was therefore a struggle against the British state and all its institutions – the established church, the education system, the legal system and more.
He observed Baptists did not cower, nor was their struggle deterred as they challenged the power structure and fought for their freedom.
“The struggle to end prohibition by the Spiritual Baptists was therefore truly a struggle for human rights and freedom: freedom of worship and of religion, freedom of association, freedom of conscience.
“Thus Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day, while of great significance to members of the faith, is also of tremendous importance to the entire society. Spiritual Baptists fought and won freedoms that we all can enjoy today.”
Citing the local adage ‘Those who have more corn should feed more fowl,’ the leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) suggested that property tax should first be applied to industrial and commercial users.
“There’s a social justice issue involving that. In other words, those who are rich and wealthy should pay property taxes because by doing that, they will be contributing more to the national purse,” David Abdulah said at a media conference held virtually on Sunday.
“Instead, you want to tax pensioners, people who are earning small amounts of money but have been able to buy their own home and so on. You want to tax them first before you tax people who put up all kinds of properties.”
Abdulah added that after going after the industrial and commercial users, the Government could gradually make its way to homeowners, starting with the wealthy and then others.
He added that regular people are already burdened with the high cost of living and accused the Government of putting more weight on their backs.
Many of these people are drowning or barely keeping their heads above water.
“Now their heads would be pushed underwater, drowning them in debt and in a situation where their finances and income cannot meet their expenditures,” Abdulah added.
“Most people do not make it from payday to payday. On top of that, people have to pay more for house insurance, which went up tremendously last year.”
On Friday in Parliament, Finance Minister Colm Imbert laid the Property Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024, which is set for debate on March 18.
Imbert announced the halt of property tax payments using the existing system, adding that the 801 people who made payments would be refunded.
Under the original system, the tax was calculated based on three per cent of their residential properties’ annual rental value (ARV).
The minister also announced the reduction rate of residential property tax from three per cent to two per cent, which he said represents an effective reduction of property tax by 33 per cent.
He added that the 30-day period to challenge property tax valuations was extended to six months (until June 30).
Imbert said the Government also intends to allow for the extension of all applicable periods by Order, as is the case under the Valuation of Land Act.
But on Sunday, the MSJ leader questioned what he called Imbert’s last-minute announcement.
Abdulah referred to statements Imbert made in the last budget on the property tax, saying the minister purported that all was ready to implement it.
He also said that there were major errors in the ARV calculation.
Abdulah said the real issue was not simply the formula for calculating the property tax. He added that the real problem centred on the amount the valuation division came up with to identify peoples’ ARV.
“The minister ought to have known in October that there were major problems with the assessments by the valuation division.
“Why did the minister not come back in January or the end of December and say we are not yet ready? He was adamant in his budget speech that it was going to be three per cent,” Abdulah said.
“What then has caused him to change his mind and the Government to change its mind? We need to get a very clear answer. Is it, for example, an attempt, as many people believe, to appease voters, given that the election is due sometime within the next 18 months? Is that the reason?”
He questioned whether the Government was worried about winning votes or losing votes.
THE Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) on March 14 disagreed with the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV report, which said Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing a sustained economic recovery.
In a statement, MSJ political leader David Abdulah said, “The IMF says that things are looking up, but what are the ordinary men and women feeling? Are their lives better?
“The answer to that is a resounding no.”
He added that wages and salaries have not kept up with increased prices of food and fuel.
“So working people are worse off today than they were five years ago. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is therefore not being translated into betterment for the people.”
Abdulah said in the MSJ’s view, “The few very wealthy are getting a bigger and bigger slice of the pie, and the majority have to do with less.”
Abdulah disagreed with the IMF’s support for government policies such as collecting property tax and the phased reduction of subsidies to assist the most vulnerable in society.
While Abdulah agreed with the IMF on the need for structural reforms of the economy, he said there is a need to ensure that when these reforms are implemented, they do not worsen the inequality of wealth between the rich and poor.
He claimed the current government and all its predecessors have failed to create an economic system in which TT’s natural resources have been used to serve the common good and there is opportunity for advancement on the basis of recognition of merit, ability and integrity.
In a statement issued by his ministry on March 11, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the IMF onlyreached these conclusions because his ministry and the Government “have exercised fiscal discipline over the last eight years, thus creating the conditions for sustained growth.”
The IMF’s 2024 Article IV visit to Trinidad and Tobago was made from February 28-March 8.
The mission met with a number of stakeholders, government departments, private-sector organisations and state institutions and comprehensively analysed detailed economic data on TT.
In its report, also issued on March 11, the IMF said, “For the first time in a decade, Trinidad and Tobago is undergoing a gradual and sustained economic recovery. Real GDP rebounded in 2022 and is estimated to have further expanded by 2.1 per cent in 2023.”
The IMF attributed this to the strong performance of the non-energy sector, which was partially offset by a contraction in the energy sector.
While the IMF viewed TT’s economic outlook as positive, it did identify some risks.
“In the near term, downside risks stem from external factors affecting energy markets (eg, an abrupt global slowdown) and disappointments in domestic energy production (eg., delays in new projects or unexpected disruptions in current production). In the medium term, the balance of risks is to the upside, stemming from additional new natural gas projects and the implementation of planned structural reforms, which could boost growth.”
The IMF said maintaining fiscal discipline while strengthening TT’s fiscal framework is important.
THE civil society crime summit which was scheduled for next Tuesday has been postponed because of the state funeral for former prime minister Basdeo Panday on the same day.
Panday, 90, died in the US on January 1.
His funeral will be held next Tuesday at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA), San Fernando, from 8.30 am.
The summit, which was organised by the People’s Roundtable, was to have been held at the Valsayn Teachers’ College on the same day.
Roundtable convenor and Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah announced its postponement in a statement on January 4.
“We take this opportunity, as a gathering of important civil society organisations, to thank Mr Panday for his lifelong commitment of public service to Trinidad and Tobago and, in particular, to the ordinary men and women in our society.”
Abdulah offered the roundtable’s condolences to Panday’s family and friends.
“It would also be totally inappropriate for a major public activity to be held at the same time as the state funeral.”
He said a new date for the summit will be announced in due course.
“We know that Mr Panday would have keenly looked forward to our efforts to bring about unity of diverse sections of the society around issues of concern to the citizenry.”
The roundtable comprises groups such as the Joint Trade Union Movement, Scrap Iron Dealers’ Association, the Farmers’ Union and the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women.
MEMBERS of the PNM and the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) shared in some friendly banter on the local government campaign trail in Point Fortin on Friday.
The two parties crossed paths at the Gonzales Community Centre.
PNM members led by party chairman Stuart Young, Point Fortin MP Kennedy Richards and the party’s Techier/Guapo candidate Wendell Williams, greeted MSJ leader David Abdulah, Williams’ MSJ rival Nigel Whyte and MSJ supporters at the centre.
Young told the media he was pleased to be in Point Fortin to lend support to Williams.
On the camaraderie he shared with Abdulah and MSJ members, Young said, “I used to represent Mr Abdulah and his comrades and they will remember what I did for them.”
With just over a week to go before election day, Young was confident of the PNM’s chances of victory.
“Excellent. We will continue to do what we have to do.”
Before the MSJ started their walkabout. Whyte promised to take the fight to his rivals in Point Fortin.
He said the Techier/Guapo district had many issues to deal with.
These included flooding and a lack of recreational facilities
Abdulah praised Whyte and his fellow MSJ candidates, Amber Wharton and Kester Swan, for flying the MSJ’s flag in Point Fortin.
He said the MSJ was lighting a flame to keep the spirit of trade unionist Tubal “Uriah” Buzz Butler alive.
“Thar flame and that spirit of Butler will move from Point Fortin, right throughout the length and breadth of Trinidad and Tobago, until there is social justice.”
A poll conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) on July 23, found that a large number of people are turned off from politics and will not vote in the August 14 local government elections.
NACTA said there is no significant voter swing towards either the PNM or UNC with neither one on the required voter-support ascendancy to knock out the other in the seven local corporations each of them currently control.
The poll found voters turning away from the PNM and the UNC.
Both parties are also facing an uphill task to retain their traditional base.
Younger East Indian voters are crossing over to the PNM because they see limited “political hope and opportunities” there compared to in the UNC as presently constituted.
The poll said there is hardly any similar ethnic crossover of voters to the UNC with African and mixed voters “turned off from some of the political personalities in the opposition camp.”
THE Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has said a total of 373 candidates will compete in the August 14 local government elections.
In a release on Tuesday – the day after nomination day – the EBC said ten political parties are in the race. It added that the PNM is the only party with candidates in all 141 electoral districts.
Independent candidate Vivian Johnson will run for Belmont South, Dixie-Ann Elliot for Pleasantville, Irvin Samuel Felix for Hollywood, Kendell Michael Hagley for Mayaro South/Guayaguayare, Gwendolyn Alana Charles for Valencia West and Kathleen Washington for Blanchisseuse/Santa Rosa.
THE theme of this year’s Labour Day celebration, “People power, People Matter” is indicative that the masses hold the power and political leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah says it is time people take back that power from the hands of the politicians.
In a message on the eve of Labour Day, Abdulah, who served for many years on the executive of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), said while people have the power, they can only own and control it if there is unity.
He said they must engage in mass disciplined action similar to what occurred during the 1937 labour and 1970 Black Power Revolutions in TT.
“To be able to take united disciplined mass action first requires that we must have a revolution of the mind.
“Real people power is not voting to move one neo-colonial party and replace it with another one. We have been doing that consistently since 1981. Real people power is now needed to change the status quo, change the neo-colonial system and remove from political office all those who have propped it up over the years with their racial, divide and rule party politics.”
“On the occasion of the anniversary of the June 19, 1937, revolution, workers must strike a blow against the neo-colonial state and the whole neo-colonial structure,” Abdulah said.
He said Labour Day should not be viewed as just another holiday but one which has ushered in fundamental changes in the lives of the ordinary men and women.
“Without June 19, 1937 – and similar strikes and revolts in other West Indian territories – the British colonial power would have not been pushed to the point where they had to end their colonial rule. We therefore owe our status as an independent nation to the struggles and sacrifices of the ‘warrior workers’ (as the Chief Servant Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler called them) of 1937.
Without June 19, 1937, he said, the modern trade unions would not have been formed and TT would have taken much longer to develop.
He spoke to the many benefits workers enjoy from paid vacation, maternity, sick leave, pension and medical plans, 40-hour work weeks, overtime pay, right to join and be represented by a trade union, to occupational health and safety standards and more.
He also said 86 years later, there was a complete turnaround in the progress made by the labour movement with the State now “striking a blow at workers.”
LEADER of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) David Abdulah and a handful of people went to the US, Canadian and French embassies on Wednesday to hand deliver a letter calling on these three countries not to meddle in the affairs of Haiti.
Speaking at the Queen’s Park Savannah, opposite the US embassy, Abdulah said Wednesday was chosen for the action as it is the 36th anniversary of the drafting of Haiti’s Constitution.
After the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on 7 July 2021, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been acting as President – which Abdullah said was against the constitution of that country.
Abdullah said the letters delivered at the embassies represent the voice of the Caribbean and are against any military intervention on Haiti which is the first country in the Western Hemisphere to oust its European slave masters.
The three countries, Abdullah said, represent what the Haitian people refer to as “a core group” who selected Henry to lead the country, without elections. To date there have been no legitimate handing over of power.
“There must be no military intervention in Haiti because the US has been pushing for that. There must be no more foreign troops in Haiti. The Haitian people themselves can resolve their own problems. They have made proposals, which include the removal of the de facto government of Henry,” the MSJ leader said.
There were representatives of the Joint Trade Union Movement (Jtum) and Shabaka Kambon who represented both the Emancipation Support Committee and the Caribbean Freedom Project.
Abdulah said it was time for Haiti to get a new government via the democration route – free and fair elections.
Kambon interjected saying: “We’re also encouraging our governments to stand up for what is right, letting them (Haitians) know they have the support of the people of the Caribbean.”
THE Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) wants the Government to use some of the $8 billion in the Green Fund to find creative and different ways to address flooding.
While collapsing infrastructure and flooding continue to affect thousands across the country, political leader of the MSJ David Abdulah said the $8 billion-plus is for work related to environment remediation and mitigation.
“Certainly, that money could be used to deal with the problems we are having now, because the Government has no vision to treat with this problem,” he said at the MSJ virtual news conference on Sunday.
He said Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan’s reported call to prepare for the worst and hope for the best was an admission of failure on the part of the Government to find a solution to counter the aftermath of the heavy rain which has affected thousands over the past few days.
The Prime Minister’s statement about waiting until the dry season to tackle the massive flooding, deteriorating and worsening road conditions and collapsing infrastructure, was equal to throwing his hands in the air and giving up, he said.
He offered some solutions which he said are outlined in the MSJ’s roadmap to recovery plan, including a national infrastructure fund. The proposed fund, he said should be outside government revenue and expenditure, not to be controlled by the Ministry of Finance or Works.
“It should be managed by an independent group of people appointed by the President, similar to the Green Fund and Heritage and Stabilisation Fund. This fund would be managed by bond issues and go into important development projects, which projects are to be implemented by people in communities representing community co-operatives.”
Noting the number of hillside developments taking place in Maracas St Joseph, Santa Cruz, Maraval and other areas, Abdulah said that has to stop.
“There are too many hillside development, too many houses, too many apartments building, causing more runoff heading into rivers and flowing lower down.
“Proper measures have to be put in place for proper land-use plans.
“We have to stop illegal quarrying. Properly manage quarrying to ensure it does not cause silting of rivers and excess runoff and loss of watersheds.
“These are not difficult to do, once we have the political will to do it,” Abdulah said.
Calling on people to be more responsible in disposing of garbage, Abdulah also questioned the status of the Beverage Container Bill, to prevent plastic bottles ending up in landfills and making their way to watercourses and the sea.
“Much can be done and has to be done. Proper controls by the EMA and Town and Country Planning have to be addressed in a holistic, thorough way.
“There must be a strong political will to get it done, to ensure when we have this heavier-than-usual rainfall as a result of climate change, we would not suffer the kinds of impacts we are now suffering, with such regularity, such frequency, with such horrific consequences.”
MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah described Government’s decision to close the scrap iron industry for six months as an economic crime against the people who depend on it for their livelihood.
He demanded the immediate reopening of the industry.
Abdulah made these statements when he met with scrap-iron workers at Temple Street, Claxton Bay, on Thursday.
“This shutting down (of the scrap iron industry) has major implications for thousands and thousands of people in Trinidad and Tobago. It is an economic crime against the people of TT.”
He said the MSJ was in solidarity with them because the Government has not done its work.
“What the Government has done is to put thousands of people on the breadline. That is wrong. That is unjust.
“We are saying to the Rowley Government: Restart the industry now.”
Abdulah warned there could be serious consequences when people’s backs are against the wall, bread has been taken from their mouths and governments fail to listen.
“What do you expect people to do, other than to take protest action in defence of their interests? People who are powerless can only demonstrate their power through mass, disciplined action which we insist should be peaceful.”
Abdulah said the industry was vital. But he lamented that for the last 11 years, successive UNC and PNM government have done nothing to regulate and preserve it.
“This industry earns foreign exchange for this country because every month, 5,000 containers are exported from TT with scrap metal. That is foreign exchange for the country at a time when the country does not have foreign exchange.”
Abdulah argued that if Government had done things such as stopping copper exports three months ago “then the rest of the industry could be running all now and mankind could be continuing to work to put food on the table for themselves and their families.”
He accused Government of not implementing measures to properly regulate the industry “to make sure that the few people, just the handful of people who engage in illegal activity, could be dealt with.”
He recalled the Scrap Iron Dealers Association had submitted regulatory recommendations to Government. These included special stickers to identify legitimate scrap-iron dealers and receipts to show scrap iron was legitimately purchased.
What is the MSJ prepared to do in support of scrap iron workers if Government did not lift the ban or extended it?
Abdulah said the association has announced it would stage a motorcade from the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba to Port of Spain on August 24.
“We are calling upon everybody to support that motorcade, because that kind of protest action might show the Government that they have made a fundamental error and they need to change their position.”
While the MSJ cannot take legal action on the issue, Abdulah said he was aware that the association was considering its legal options.
